Magic story "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants". Summary

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Surely many will be able to remember a gloomy puppet cartoon about a boy who lived a long time ago in a private school, about a black chicken and about a small people who lived somewhere underground.

This cartoon is based on the fairy tale "Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants", a summary of which will be presented in this article. Well, let's get started.

The story "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants". Summary

The author of this work is the famous Russian writer of the first half of the nineteenth century Alexey Alekseevich Perovsky. His literary pseudonym is Anthony Pogorelsky. The Black Hen was written by him in 1829 for his nephew, Count Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy (Leo Tolstoy's paternal relative), also a future writer.

The beginning of the story

"Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants" begins with a story about the main character - a boy Alyosha, who was from a remote province. At the age of 10 hewas brought to St. Petersburg to a private boarding school (a closed school for boys), where he was left in the care of a teacher with payment for several years in advance. The boy was modest and diligent, so he was loved by his comrades and mentor.

Development of the plot of the story "The Black Hen, or Underground Dwellers"

Story summary I would like to continue with a description of the following events. It so happened that one day Alyosha saved his favorite chicken Chernushka, with whom he was playing in the poultry yard, from the cook's knife. On the same night, Chernushka woke him up and led him around the sleeping house to show something “pretty”. However, due to the boy's negligence at that time, their trip was not successful.

The next night the chicken came for Alyosha again. This time, they eventually ended up in the Underworld, where the little people lived.

The king of this people offered Alyosha any reward for saving their first minister, who turned out to be Chernushka. The boy did not think of anything better than to ask for the ability to answer all the lessons without preparing for them. The king did not like the laziness of the student, which was manifested in this request, but he fulfilled the promise: Alyosha was given a hemp seed, which he had to carry with him in order to answer his homework. In parting, the boy was asked not to tell anyone about where he was and what he saw, because otherwise the underground inhabitants would have to leave their homes for new unknown lands and begin to equip life anew. The boy swore an oath to keep the trustedhim a secret.

From that day Alyosha became the best student not only in his boarding school, but in all of St. Petersburg. At first, the boy was embarrassed by the fact that he accepted undeserved praise. However, he soon believed in his exclusivity, became proud, and began to play pranks. His character deteriorated day by day - he became angry, impudent and lazy.

The teacher no longer praised him, but, on the contrary, tried to reason with him. Once he asked Alyosha to memorize 20 pages of text. But it turned out that he lost the grain, and therefore could not answer the lesson. He was locked in the bedroom until he was ready. However, the lazy mind refused to memorize the task. At night, Chernushka appeared to him and returned the grain with a request to improve, once again reminding him of his promise to keep silent about the underworld. Alyosha promised both.

Sad denouement

The next day he answered the lesson brilliantly. However, instead of praising the student, the mentor demanded an explanation when he learned the task. Otherwise, the poor fellow was threatened with flogging. The boy forgot about everything in the world and told about Chernushka, the grain and the Underworld. The result turned out to be deplorable: he was considered a liar and still whipped, the inhabitants of the dungeon had to leave, Chernushka was shackled for ever and ever, and the grain disappeared forever. From feelings of guilt and remorse, Alyosha fell ill and lay in a fever for six weeks.

After recovery, the boy became kind and obedient again. He regained the favor of his comrades and teacher. He became a diligent though not outstanding student.

This is how the amazingfairy tale "The Black Hen, or Underground Inhabitants". You already know the summary, but read the full text, because there is a lot more interesting and mysterious in it.